Portable seat assembly



Jan. 12, 1965 D. M. OLSON PORTABLE SEAT ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 15, 1963 R. M 0% 7% TS n NI- r. OW 0 w. n 1M 0 d :6 II ..n a w 6 m m. w a w United States PatentO 3,165,077 PORTABLE SEAT ASSEMBLY Donald M. (llson, 613 Yinon Drive, R0. Box 2165, Santa Fe, N. Mex. Filed Aug. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 302,316 3 Claims. (Cl. 10833) This invention relates to a portable seat assembly and it pertains more particularly to a seat of standard height on a central support which serves as a small, light carrying case therefor.

It has long been known that a cane or rod may be provided with a folding seat for use on golf courses or in connection with sporting events, but such seats were usually not of standard height, they were uncomfortable, and they were bulky and/ or diflicult to assemble. An object of this invention is to provide a firm, resilient, comfortable seat supported at the height of ordinary chairs on any kind of surface (soft, hard, slippery, sandy, etc.), which seat may be simply, easily and quickly folded and stored in the light tube which serves as the seat support, said tube being about 16 inches long and less than 1 /2 inches in diameter in the preferred example, and the whole assembly weighing less than 1 /2 pounds. A further object is to provide a structure which will not only provide a comfortable seat for persons weighing 200 pounds or more, but will alternatively provide, in outdoor use, an endtable which may be placed adjacent another seat to hold papers, food, beverages, etc. In'other words, the object is to provide a remarkably compact, inexpensive, light weight assembly that is extremely simple to assemble, without requiring any extraneous tools, that may be used on inclined as well as level surfaces, and that is surprisingly comfortable-even more resilient than most ordinary chairs.

Briefly described, the invention employs a seat member of stacked flat strips with aligned openings, said strips being held together by a hollow rivet so that they can be fanned out to provide a resilient seat (or table) and can be pushed together to form an aligned unit of small enough cross-sectional area to fit in a supporting tube. The supporting tube has one unobstructed end which has engaging means for holding a closure member, and the latter has a rubbery pad on one side and a tapered point on the other, the pad end being exposed when the tube is used as a carrying case. The other end of the tube has a plug with a central opening for receiving a retaining screw, or other fastening means, which serves as a tube closure and which holds the seat element on the tube in operative position. A base plate fits loosely over the tapered point so that when the point is inserted in soft ground or sand it will prevent the support from sinking in too far and so that when the tapered point is inserted at an angle to the supporting surface other than a right angle, the base plate may conform to the supporting surface. The base plate and the aligned seat strips fit into the tube for storage and are held there by the closure member.

Preferably the base plate is notched to slide over a retaining-pin on the side of the tapered point and then be turned so it is held in place by the pin; by aligning the pin with the notch, the base plate may serve as a wrench for tightening or loosening the end closure from the tube. Also the end plate may serve as a wrench or screw driver for tightening or loosening the retaining screw. The strips which form the seat may be slightly bent upwards in their mid portion and outwards or slightly downwards at their outer ends, provided that the seat assembly is still insertable in the tube. Other features of the invention will become apparent as the detailed description thereof proceeds.

The invention will be more clearly understood from ice the following detailed description of a specific example thereof read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which:

FIG. 1 is a section through the assembly in packaged condition.

FIG. 2 is a section through the assembly in operative condition.

FIG. 3 is a detail section showing the hollow rivet holding the aligned stn'ps together.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the base plate.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the seat strips in fanned-out position.

FIG. 6 is an example of a bent seat strip.

In this example tube 10 carries seat 11 on its inside (FIG. 1) or at its top (FIG. 2), this tube being about 16 inches long, 1% inches external diameter and 1% inches internal diameter so that its thickness is about l/ inch. This tube is preferably of hard anodized aluminum or a high impact strength plastic such as polystyrene, reinforced nylons, etc.

At the base end of the tube 10 it is unobstructed and it has internal threads 13 which may either engage external threads 14 or external threads 15 of closure member 16. When the device is knocked down for carrying, threads 14 are screwed into threads 13 until annular ring 17 fits snugly against the base end of tube 10, so that threads 15 will protrude outwardly, exposing rubbery pad or knob 18. In this position the sharp, tapered, pointed end 19 is inside of tube 10. Near but spaced from its juncture with threaded closure member 16 the tapered pointed end 19 is provided with a retaining pin 29. A substantially flat steel base plate 21 is provided with a central opening 22 of a diameter somewhat larger than that of the large end of tapered point member 19 and there is a notched portion 23 at the periphery of opening 22, the notch being designed to slide over pin 20 or to bear against it when the base plate is used as a wrench. The end 24 of threaded section 14 may be slightly rounded, and in any event, when there is an angle other than a right angle between the supporting surface and tube 1.0, the base plate may nevertheless fit against the supporting surface while preventing the supporting tube from penetrating too far into the supporting surface. Base plate 21 in this example is 6 inches long and slightly less than one inch wide, and its central opening is about /2 inch in diameter.

At the seat end, tube 10 has a tightly fitting reducer plug 25, said plug having an annular shoulder 26 against which the end of tube 10 bears, a recess 27 for receiving the protruding end of a hollow rivet to be described, and a threaded inner passage which is substantially smaller than the internal diameter of tube 10.

A retaining screw or cap screw 28 has a shallow frustoconical top portion 29 provided with a milled slot 3%, and the long screw portion 31 is externally threaded to match the internal threads in plug 25. In Carrying position (FIG. 1) the cap screw is an end closure for tube 10, and when the seat is in use the cap screw holds said seat in operative position (FIG. 2).

The seat 11 itself is formed by a multiplicity of strips 32, six of them in this example, each about 10 inches long, about 1 inch wide and about ,4 inch thick. These strips may be flat, but they are preferably inclined up wards from near the center at about a 5 angle and then downwardly at their outer edge at about a 5 angle as shown in FIG. 6. The strips 32 are stacked in alignment and about a /2 inch hole 33 is punched or drilled at the center thereof. Then the strips are secured together by a brass ferrule or hollow rivet 34. One flattened end of hollow rivet 34 fits into recess 27 of the plug 25 and the other flattened end fits into recess 27' in the bottom of cap portion 29 of screw 28.

a through the hollow rivet 34.

In use, closure member 16 is unscrewed and the contents of tube 10 removed. If the chair is to be set up on a lawn or soft ground, threads 15 are screwed into threads 13 so that tapered point 19 extends outwardly. Before placing stop plate 2.1 in retaining position it may be used as a screw driver to unscrew retaining screw 23 and then tighten said screw after it has been inserted Seat 11 may rotate if screw 28 is not thus tightened. Next the base plate may be placed over tapered point 39 till notch 23 is aligned with pin 2i? so that the retainer element 116 can be tightened to the desired degree, the base plate serving as a wrench. Said base plate is then pushed all the way on and turned so that pin 25) restrains it or keeps it from dropping off. Finally a person sits on the seat, after the strips have been fanned out as shown in FIG. 5, and the point It? penetrates the soft ground till base plate 2B; bears against the surface thereof. The opening 22 in the base plate is large enough to permit it to pivot and lay fiat against the supporting surface even though said surface may not be horizontal. In this example the strips 32 are of 7 075- T6 aluminum and a seat of unbelievable comfort and resiliency is thus obtained. Of course, various parts may be made of different materials, high-impact polystyrene being particularly suitable for retainer i6 and cap screw 28.

While a, specific preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail, it should be understood that modifications and alternative structures and arrangements will be apparent from the above description to those skilled in the art. Instead of threaded retaining and fastening means, such means may be of the pin-and-slot type, a bayonet type, etc. The fasten-means may in fact have a smooth cylindrical rod-like portion which extends into a smooth opening in the plug, the rodlike portion having a tapered or rounded inner end and being provided with an elongated slit so that it is held in place by sliding friction.

I claim:

1. A portable seat assembly which comprises in combinations:

(a) a seat member of stacked flat strips with aligned openings, said strips being held together by a hollow rivet so that they can be fanned out to provide resilient seat and can be pushed together to form an aligned unit of small cross sectional area,

(b) a supporting tube having one unobstructed end with closure-engaging means and one plugged end with an inner opening, and a fastening means to fit the inner opening, pass through the hollow rivet, and close the tube end,

(0) a closure member designed to fit and be held by the unobstructed end of the tube, said closure member having a tapered point on one side and a rubbery pad on the other, and

(d) a base plate having an opening therethrough, which is larger than the maximum cross-sectional area of the tapered point, the base plate and the aligned seat unit fitting within the tube and being retained therein by the closure member to form a small, light package.

2. The seat assembly of claim 1 which includes a retaining pin on the tapered point for holding the base plate, the latter being notched to slide over the pin so that the base plate may be used as a wrench by aligning the notch with the pin.

3. The seat assembly of claim 1 in which a part of the base plate is designed to engage a part of the fastening means so that it can be used to tighten and loosen said fastening means.

References in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,571,129 Luchoff Jan. 26, 1926 2,137,799 Brandenburg Nov. 22, 1938 2,742,55 Dominguez Apr. 24, 1956 2,800,164 Chambers July 23, 1957 2,877,828 Barnette Mar. 17, 1959 

1. A PORTABLE SEAT ASSEMBLY WHICH COMPRISES IN COMBINATIONS: (A) A SEAT MEMBER OF STACKED FLAT STRIPS WITH ALIGNED OPENINGS, SAID STRIPS BEING HELD TOGETHER BY A HOLLOW RIVET SO THAT THEY CAN BE FANNED OUT TO PROVIDE A RESILIENT SEAT AND CAN BE PUSHED TOGETHER TO FORM AN ALIGNED UNIT OF SMALL CROSS SECTIONAL AREA, (B) A SUPPORTING TUBE HAVING ONE UNOBSTRUCED END WITH CLOSURE-ENGAGING MEANS A FASTENING MEANS TO FIT WITH AN INNER OPENING, AND A FASTENING MEANS TO FIT THE INNER OPENING, PASS THROUGH THE HOLLOW RIVET, AND CLOSE THE TUBE END, (C) A CLOSURE MEMBER DESIGNED TO FIT BE HELD BY THE UNOBSTRUCTED END OF THE TUBE, SAID CLOSURE MEMBER HAVING A TAPERED POINT ON ONE SIDE AND A RUBBERY PAD ON THE OTHER, AND (D) A BASE PLATE HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH, WHICH IS LARGER THAN THE MAXIMUM CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF THE TAPERED POINT, THE BASE PLATE AND THE ALIGNED SEAT UNIT FITTING WITHIN THE TUBE AND BEING RETAINED THEREIN BY THE CLOSURE MEMBER TO FORM A SMALL, LIGHT PACKAGE. 